U.S. and allies to build a “maritime corridor” of aid to Gaza

The United States, along with other governments including the United Kingdom and United Arab Emirates, will establish a program providing humanitarian assistance to Gaza by sea, the White House said on Friday. The European Union also issued a matching statement.

Whose idea was this? The statements credited Cyprus with creating the Amalthea Initiative, which outlined procedures for securely shipping aid to Gaza. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Friday on social media praised Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides for founding the initiative.

Didn’t President Biden mention this? During the State of the Union Address Thursday evening, U.S. President Joe Biden said the U.S. military would build a temporary pier and eventually a port in the Mediterranean Sea to get more humanitarian aid into Gaza. Earlier that day, the White House provided more detail on the upcoming pier in a call with news media. The White House said the port would take weeks to set up.

What are these countries saying about the situation in Gaza? The joint statements said the humanitarian situation in Gaza was dire, with Palestinian families “desperate for basic necessities.” In his State of the Union Address, Biden repeated the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry’s statement that 30,000 Palestinians have died in conflict with Israel. He did credit the start of the war with Hamas—who he referred to as a “terrorist group.” Hamas had decided to attack Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and kill roughly 1,200 people.

Dig deeper: Read Daniel Darling’s column in WORLD Opinions about allegations that the Red Cross is biased against Israel.